


Pull on my Heartstrings

by writtensoul



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: (when is there not with me), M/M, charming!harry, idiot!louis, mostly - Freeform, you know, zouis!friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-17
Updated: 2013-02-17
Packaged: 2017-11-29 13:52:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/687708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writtensoul/pseuds/writtensoul
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>louis is crazy and works at a tiny coffee shop/store and likes zayn and zayn likes louis but louis also likes pretty boy (also called harry).</p><p> </p><p>  <em>“I’m Harry, by the way.” And isn’t that just the best thing ever? Harry is a perfect name. So much better than Pretty Boy.</em></p><p>  <em>“Louis.”</em></p><p>  <em>Harry grins, “Bye, Louis,” and leaves with the girl.</em></p><p>  <em>Louis reckons he is fucked.</em></p>
            </blockquote>





	Pull on my Heartstrings

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted at Stylinist! Basically I was at a really great store today and it inspired me.

Louis’ job is great. It’s really, really, amazingly great. He works at a hidden store (which is also great because he’s a bit shy) filled with cool little trinkets and records, too, and it even has a huge book section where he goes on his breaks and cuddles on the plush couches. There’s a coffee shop upstairs run by Zayn- his boss, friend, and roommate- who also happens to be gay. He figures if the store is known for anything, it’s that a lot of gay people are attracted to it. A big plastic sticker is on the front door and there’s rainbow memorabilia everywhere and, well, Louis loves it. Might as well be appreciated at a store you love.

He’s just gotten off break when he sees a boy and a girl walk in.

She’s pretty, but he’s outstanding. And Louis loves cliché films, he really does, so he’s allowed to say that the boy has shiny silky curls and a smile that’s brighter than the sun. 

“Hello,” Louis says softly, his voice barely loud enough for the boy to hear.

“Hey, mate,” the boy says back with a nod, and turns to the girl and says, “this is what Li told me about, Gem. He said there was even a book corner at the back.”

Louis stops himself from saying “yes, we do,” and just fiddles with the buttons on the cash register. His eyes flick up a few times as the boy and girl walk closer to the till, and finally they pass by it and head in deeper to the store.

And since only a few people come into the store a day, he runs up the stairs that are littered with stone gargoyles and finds Zayn making a tea for a blonde boy.

“Zayn,” he hisses, scuttling over the counter, “Zayn, there’s somebody really pretty downstairs.”

Zayn begrudgingly tears his away from blonde boy and rolls his eyes. “Stop being so gay,” he says.

“ _You_ stop being so gay!” Louis whisper-yells, bouncing up and down on his feet like a toddler. He knows he’s being immature, honestly, but the boy is so pretty. _Too_ pretty.

A stupid smirk settles on Zayn’s pouty lips and he points towards the stairs. “Man your till, babe. Or I’ll fire you.”

Even though Louis knows his best friend won’t fire him even if he sat in a corner screaming all day, he grumbles and slowly makes his way back towards the till. His eyes catch on the bright display of socks and he notices the pair that have the word “gay,” written up the sides and smiles. He’d bought himself a pair a few weeks ago and went home and walked around naked all night, singing his favorite songs and basically just mucking about. Zayn had come home to find him naked except for the socks pulled up to his knees, and they’d had sex right there in the living room. But it was okay, because they aren’t exclusive and that’s the way they work.

Eventually he returns to the till (after walking through the entire bottom floor in search of the pretty boy, but no such luck) and leans against the side of the counter.

His eyes scan the area, and- he really likes this store, he thinks again. The moonlit city-scape mural is probably his favorite part of it. But so are the gargoyles. And the fact that the only people who know about it are great people and the fact that he’s allowed to play Bon Iver and Explosions in the Sky and whatever else he wants.

He’s about to get sad about Pretty Boy leaving when he hears a girl’s voice and his voice coming from the top of the stairs. Crossing his fingers, he hopes the boy has picked something up so he can speak to him semi-properly.

And he has. He comes up to the till with an Arctic Monkeys vinyl and those god damned “gay” socks.

So really, he can’t help but snort and say, “I have those, too.”

Pretty Boy looks up and smiles that 100-watt smile, turning to the girl, “See, sis! Told you they weren’t tacky.”

Louis wonders why the fact that he owns a pair makes it so they’re not tacky, but he smiles back and writes the receipt out on his sticky-pad. Once he’s finished, he finds the right change and hands over the bag (which design is only of a rainbow) and grins.

Pretty Boy takes his bag with a wink and goes to leave, but the girl says, “wait! Liam said there was a book here that I would like. It’s called The Book of Thinkers or whatever, I forgot to look.”

That makes Louis’ heart jump because he knows that book and exactly where it’s kept so he says “Hey! I know what you’re talking about.”

Pretty Boy smiles at Louis like he’s just saved a puppy from getting run over and he just really likes that.

They walk back closer to the till and Louis takes that as his queue to lead them back to where he knows the book is. He tries to keep his back straight and his strides sure, but he hears giggles behind him and that makes him stumble over his own feet a bit.

He steps down into the book area and relishes in how much warmer it looks in there; the yellow glow of the light and the smell of tea and paper. A quick turn ensures that the duo is still following, and he crouches to the ground to grab the book on the bottom shelf.

“Here,” he breathes, standing back up and handing the book over.

“Thanks, gorgeous,” the girl says, and that makes Louis blush and cough a bit.

Pretty Boy chuckles. “Play nice, Gem.”

“You wanted me to find out, so I did,” she mumbles.

Find out what?

They say nothing else on the matter, just a few harsh whispers, but Louis figures it’s none of his business so he shuffles back to the till and sings quietly until they come, too.

He rings her book through and she walks away while Pretty Boy stays at the counter.

“You bought those socks, too?” He speaks finally. Louis thinks his voice is literal liquid caramel.

“Well, yeah. Thought they were cute.”

“I’m Harry, by the way.” And isn’t that just the best thing ever? Harry is a perfect name. So much better than Pretty Boy.

“Louis.”

Harry grins, “Bye, Louis,” and leaves with the girl.

Louis reckons he is fucked.

~~

When he’s laying in Zayn’s bed that night, he crawls on top of his friend and nuzzles his face into his neck.

“He’s so pretty,” he mumbles sleepily, because he never really knows what he’s saying when he’s tired.

Like always, Zayn knows. “So are you.” And he tilts Louis’ chin up to kiss him on each side of his mouth and that makes Louis more tired so he falls right asleep when Zayn is finished loving him.

~~

Louis always feels small around Zayn, and he thinks that it’s okay. Zayn takes care of him and puts him back together when boys at the bar never call him back. It’s nice, Louis thinks, but he also thinks he wants something more solid.

Before the shop opens that next day, Zayn holds him tight in the doorway and presses kisses to the top of his head and tells him he loves him, and Louis says it too while he sucks on his lollipop.

They’ve just stepped in and opened up shop when someone with a very familiar head of hair walks in.

“Hello, Louis,” Harry says with those dumb dimples poking into his cheek, and Louis pushes Zayn away up the stairs.

“Hi, Pret- Harry,” Louis slurs around his lolli and gives a crooked smile. “Why are you here so early?”

“Because my sister told me you were gay and I kind of want to take you out.”

Louis gapes at him for a moment, his candy hanging out of his mouth unattractively, and his heart does this cute little thing where it stops and he has a mini heart attack.

“Okay, you can take me on a date.”

And Louis hears Zayn laughing from the top of the stairs, but that’s alright.


End file.
